<i>The Coldest Winter Ever</i> by Sister Souljah | Teen Ink

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah MAG

January 5, 2013
By garcia97 BRONZE, Brooklyn, New York
garcia97 BRONZE, Brooklyn, New York
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Life heats up in The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah. The 368-page novel focuses on a drug-dealer's daughter, Winter Santiaga, who is having some issues after her dad is sent to prison. For one, her little sisters are placed in foster care. The author is a ­political activist and educator of disadvantaged youth. The Coldest Winter Ever is considered the “poppin” novel of
hip-hop culture.

This best-selling book marked her fiction debut. Also a former rapper, she wrote this as realistic fiction with a message: remember that for every action there is a reaction.

Winter Santiaga was always spoiled and given the easy way out. When her father goes to prison, she has to learn how to live the hard way. I felt like Winter was actually talking to me and telling me what she was going through. The book showed me that even friends aren't always going to be there for you.


The author's comments:
The passage that caught my eye the most on was on page 87 when Winter snuck out the house and got back home at 2:30 a.m. When she got back home, the cops already took Santiaga. He got caught with drugs and weapons. Also he was charged with murder. I liked this passage because it happens in reality and shows that the author understands what girls go through. The most important conflict that happens is when the police take Santiaga the house. He’s a big time drug dealer so the drug business changed after he went to jail.
This novel is one of the best novels I have ever read. It is worth reading because it takes you inside of a 17-year-old’s life. I think this describes text-to-world because somewhere around the world, someone is going through the same thing she went through or probably worst. This book changed my perspective on friends. For example, her friends just wanted to be near her when she had money and when everybody knew her as the popular girl on the block. Nobody was there for her when she was broke, had no family and in a foster care home. It shows how friends or associates won’t be there forever. I agree with the author’s view and approach to the novel’s topic because the book grabbed my attention. And, that’s pretty difficult to do since I really don’t enjoy reading books. I would recommend this book to anyone because it’s very real and urban. If you hate reading, The Coldest Winter Ever will change your mind about books.

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